Editing Pyatigorsk (section)

==History==
[[File:Piatigorsk.jpg|thumb|left|View of Pyatigorsk between 1890 and 1900.]]
{{Historical populations|1897|18440|1926|41000|1939|63162|1959|69617|1970|93085|1979|109901|1989|129499|2002|140559|2010|142511|2021|146473|type=|footnote=Source: Census data}}

The writings of the 14th-century Arabian traveler [[Ibn Battuta]] included the earliest known mention of the mineral springs. [[Peter the Great]] (reigned 1682–1725) fostered the earliest scientific study of them, but the information collected on his expedition has not survived. Interest revived at the end of the 18th century with the foundation of the first Russian settlement (Konstantinogorskaya fortress), erected at Mt.&nbsp;Mashuk in 1780.<ref name="megabook" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Battutah|first1=Ibn|title=The Travels of Ibn Battutah|date=2002|publisher=Picador|location=London|isbn=9780330418799|pages=124}}</ref>

The value of the Caucasian mineral waters led to the construction of a resort in 1803, and studies of their medical properties began thereafter: on April 24, [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] signed a decree which made the mineral waters state property. Many settlements developed near the springs: first Goryachevodsk (now part of Pyatigorsk) at the bottom of Mt.&nbsp;Mashuk, then [[Kislovodsk]], [[Yessentuki]], and [[Zheleznovodsk]].<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.newtime21v.narod.ru/hist/pyatigorsk.html |title=Pyatigorsk |publisher=Newtime21v.narod.ru |date=2007-01-30 |access-date=2012-08-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121225045720/http://www.newtime21v.narod.ru/hist/pyatigorsk.html |archive-date=December 25, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> During the [[Russian Empire]], the settlement was the administrative capital of the [[Pyatigorsky Otdel]] of the [[Terek Oblast]].

During [[World War II]], the German [[Wehrmacht]] temporarily occupied Pyatigorsk. The [[Einsatzkommando]] 12 of [[Einsatzgruppen|Einsatzgruppe]] D had its headquarters in Pyatigorsk in 1942.<ref>
{{in lang|de}} [[Jonathan Littell]]: [[The Kindly Ones (Littell novel)|Die Wohlgesinnten]] - Materialienband. Berlin 2006. P.&nbsp;66
</ref> The German occupation resulted in the killing of many Jewish inhabitants of the region.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.jfr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=sup_belkova |publisher=The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous |title=Russia // Kira Belkova |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728095001/http://www.jfr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=sup_belkova |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}
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